The Jersey City Independent "

- Mayor Healy has sent a letter to the developer of 77 Hudson saying he does not support granting the sweetened tax abatement it is seeking from the city. The mega-developer K. Hovnanian is asking for the same deal that the city granted to Fisher Development Associates for its luxury Crystal Point building. In his letter, Healy says that Crystal Point’s sweetened deal made sense because it is “in an area that is clearly more remote” than 77 Hudson. I’m sorry, but a high-rise on the Hudson River waterfront just can’t be considered “remote” anymore. This isn’t 1980. Ward E councilman Steven Fulop seems to agree, saying that he thinks Healy’s opposition is pure politics, since his administration is embroiled in the federal corruption probe that has led to guilty pleas from several former city employees. “It makes one doubt further the legitimacy of the Crystal Point approval,” he tells the Journal.

- Negotiations between the International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Marine Alliance to extend a six-year contract for about 400 dock workers in Bayonne by two more years have collapsed over union demands to place a moratorium on new technology. The workers, many of whom live in Jersey City, aren’t ready to strike, since the existing contract runs until the end of September 2010, but it puts more pressure on both sides to settle the dispute when they resume negotiations next year.

- Mayor Healy let it fly earlier this week when discussing Jersey Journal editorial page editor and “Political Insider” columnist Augie Torres. “He has been printing half-truths, distortions and lies about me for five years,” Healy tells David Cruz. “That newspaper is no longer credible, and hasn’t been for a long time. They are malevolent and unethical.”

- More than $100,000 worth of cigarettes and nearly $280,000 in cash has been seized in an probe that originated in Jersey City. The investigation brought in a ring that allegedly forged the tax stamps on cigarette packs to avoid paying the state’s $2.70 tax on each pack.

- Jersey City will soon have a Mayor’s Book Club, thanks to the League of Municipalities, The Verizon Foundation, PSE&G and the National Center for Family Literacy.

- Puccini’s Restaurant celebrated its 25th anniversary earlier this month.

- TV Watch: Tonight marks the premiere of Mercy, NBC’s medical drama shot at a number of locales around Jersey City.

- Not sure how we missed it, but yesterday was World Carfree Day. Do you think Jersey City is making any progress to becoming a more sustainable, less-auto-reliant, city?

Today’s Best Bets:

- It’s a busy Wednesday here in Jersey City, and we’ve got something for (almost) all tastes. The Chamot Gallery will celebrate its new home in Bergen Hill with an opening reception for German artist Juergen Wolf at 6 pm, while across town J CITY Theater’s newest production, Passion, debuts at 8 pm. If neither of those floats your boat, you can check out The Devyl Nellys and The McMickle Brothers at Groove on Grove; or if you’ve got swine flu on the brain, you can swing by a free talk at the Jersey City Medical Center on how best to be prepared for the flu, swine or otherwise.

In statewide news:

- The Prudential Center in Newark won the right to host the 2011 NCAA East Regional for men’s college basketball because it scored on all key counts of “transportation, venue and hotels,” according to a NCAA rep.

- A new Rasmussen poll has Republican gubernatorial challenger Chris Christie with a seven-point lead over Gov. Corzine. Independent Chris Daggett comes in at six percent. This marks a tighter finding than last month’s Rasmussen poll, in which Christie had a 13-point lead.

- Two Princeton University professors — environmental scientist Daniel Sigman and structural engineer Theodore Zoli — each received a MacArthur Foundation genius grant, which comse with no-strings-attached $500,000 award.

- The recent string of air crashes in the New York/New Jersey area underscore concerns that small aircraft pilots rely on their own eyesight, training and judgment — and not air traffic controllers — for guidance as they fly over the region.

- Limo drivers and businesses around Newark Airport are locked in a fight that originates from one simple problem: There’s nowhere for these drivers to park while they wait to pick up passengers.

- As Bruce Springsteen prepares to celebrate his 60th birthday, a new poll finds that 86 percent of New Jersey adults surveyed say the state’s most famed rocker is not too old to keep rocking.

Like what you've read here? Please consider making a donation or becoming a sustaining member. As a grassroots news organization, we rely on community support -- as well as paid advertising -- to survive.